The election results "confirm the position that many of us have taken, which is the most important thing right now is to sustain and nurture the very fragile economy, and that while we have to develop and implement a long-term deficit reduction plan, we should be very careful in designing that that we do nothing to hurt the fragile economy,” Congressman Van Hollen said Tuesday at a Monitor-hosted breakfast for reporters.

The issue of budget austerity came into sharp focus on Capitol Hill Monday evening when the House Budget Committee's Republican majority passed a measure on a 21 to 9 party-line vote to trim $261 billion from domestic spending over the next decade. Among programs that would see funding cuts were Medicaid, food stamps, and a child tax credit. The social spending reductions were designed to prevent a 10 percent, across-the-board reduction in the Pentagon’s budget, which is scheduled to take effect Jan. 2 unless Congress acts.